Cottages and Farm Buildings with a Man sketching (B., Holl. 219; H. 213)

Details

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn
Cottages and Farm Buildings with a Man sketching (B., Holl. 219; H. 213)
etching, circa 1645, a very fine, atmospheric impression, the artist printing particularly well, with touches of burr below the outbuilding, both cited by Nowell-Usticke as indicative of early impressions, with thread margins, a soft, unobtrusive crease in the sky, two small thin spots on the reverse, probably paper flaws, otherwise in very good condition
P. 130 x 208 mm., S. 133 x 211 mm.

Provenance

Cunningham (not in Lugt).

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Lot Essay

The humble, rather dilapidated farmhouse is a subject that Rembrandt represented many times. The level of detail implies that he, like the artist depicted, worked from life. Whilst this is not a self-portrait (the subject has a beard), Rembrandt has adopted the same low viewpoint as the artist. He might have added the figure for the purposes of scale, and also as an allusion to himself at work. The incidental details are interesting and support the belief that the whole print was done from life - the washing hanging from the outbuildings at left, the timber supporting the stable at the right, and the doves circling the dovecote - this last a gruesome detail, as they were lured into the stable to be killed and eaten.

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